Common Character Backgrounds and How to Avoid Them

Today I've been thinking about the common elements that get used and reused in character backgrounds.  After playing roleplaying games, I've seen the following things way too many times:

1. Character is orphaned or one parent is dead.
2. Character doesn't know anything about one or both parents.
3. Character was witness to or involved in a traumatic event, possible related to number 1.
4. Character has a natural ability that resulted in her leaving home.
5. Character is a loner, has poor social skills, is ugly, or has some other reason that they aren't good with people.
6. Character has no family.
7. Character has an enemy who is evil, or is trying to track down an evil enemy.
8. Character was falsely accused, got in trouble with the authorities, and had to leave / escape.
9. Character is all-powerful (all stats above average) or is average in all things and exceptional in one thing.
10. Character is seeking out an amazing destiny that they believe is theirs or that was taken from them.

These themes are, after all, the things that our legends are made of.  You can see these themes in all the major movies and TV series.  Let's give a point for each of the 10 to a few superheroes:

Batman's score is around a 6 or 7.  Superman is around an 8.  Ironman is about a 5 or 6.  You get the idea.  Some players even go so far as to copy characters right out of shows.  It doesn't really get the creative juices flowing.

So how can we fight this ongoing propagation of the standard hero background for every single character we play?  Here are some twists to the above that might help.

1. Character has a close family, perhaps is even married with children.
2. Character is traveling with their child, sibling, or significant other.
3. Character witnessed a great miracle that inspired them.
4. Character has no exemplary natural abilities and perhaps has a big negative (lame, blind, dead).
5. Character is older and has worked, trained, and studied to become stronger.
6. Character has friends and contacts throughout the world.  He has no enemies.
7. Character is a normal guy that the authorities don't care about.
8. Character is just going with the flow and doesn't believe in a great destiny or future.
9. Character doesn't want to take risks that may get him killed.
10. Character is forced into his role in the story.

Now obviously nobody wants to play a character that never shines, so choose a little bit of A, the heroic stuff, and a little bit of B, the normal and less exciting stuff.  Here are some character concepts I've thrown together for Shadowrun NPCs using these types of things:

• A rigger who was in Yakuza because he was in the family.  He was a rigger, and someone blew up his car and the passenger was mistaken for him.  Now he stole off with the limo he rigs from and is homeless.  He lives in the car.  It sits around all covered in graffiti and trash in the bad part of town.  He is allergic to sunlight and so he only can emerge at night.  His is so poor, he can't afford ammunition, so he carries a katana in addition to his empty pistol.
  
• A mechanic who specializes in armor.  She doesn't like messing with anything else.  She has a son who has a strong technical knack.  She has trouble because sometimes when she brings him to the shop, he disassembles things.  She tries dating but it never works out and her son always causes fits for babysitters.  She works, she goes home -- there really isn't anything else interesting that happens to her.  Yet.

So you get the idea.  Next time, when you're working on a character background, keep in mind the themes that are way overused and move away from them.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised as will the rest of your party.  After all, characters aren't defined by their strengths but by their weaknesses.

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By the way, this is my 200th post.  Huzzah!